This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/366,603, filed Jul. 22, 2010, which is incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a portable vaporizer.
2. Description of Related Art
The traditional method of smoking tobacco, herbs and plants (other than rolling the dried herbs and plants into a cigarette) uses a Hooka-style device or a bong-style apparatus. Other types of herbs can be used in these apparatus.
True connoisseurs of herbs prefer not to burn the herbs, but rather use vaporization, which is accomplished by heating the herb/plant up to the temperature, whereby the desired chemical (e.g. nicotine) starts vaporizing and avoids creating other non-desirable chemicals generated through burning, such as carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide and other carcinogens. There is a list of herbs and their vaporization temperature shown at the following Internet Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporizer.
A typical desktop vaporizer heats up a volume of air to the desired temperature and when the user inhales, the heated air passes through the herb to cause vaporization of the desired chemical. These vaporizers require plugging into the wall outlet, and contain a heating element that can be heated up to 200 degrees Celsius (some higher). The high temperature is required because air is a poor conductor of heat. In order to raise the air to approximately 200 degrees Celsius, a much higher temperature is required from the heater to account for this inefficiency.
Recently, manufacturers have been coming up with portable vaporizers that heat up the herb directly, instead of heating a volume of air. This helps to lower the temperature of the heater to the required temperature for “just” vaporization. The method for heating can be by liquid fuel (e.g. butane) such as the “Iolite” brand portable vaporizer. The fire created heats up a heat-conductive crucible that contains the herb. The other way is by electric means such as the “Vapir” brand vaporizer, whereby batteries (typically high-density lithium) power a heating element or coil that is in contact with the herb.
The inherent drawback of portable heaters is that herb itself is a poor conductor of heat. The section of the herbs that is in direct contact with the heating element can reach vaporization temperature quickly, but the rest of the leaves are often too cold to vaporize. Very often, the user has to wait a long time in order to get enough vapors to get their “kick,” or otherwise inhale multiple times just to match the effect of a desktop vaporizer.
In order to create enough vaporization, some electric portable vaporizers use larger heaters so that more leaves are in contact, but larger heaters require more power, thereby shortening the battery life. Users can also open up the container lid to manually stir the herb in order to mix up the burned and unburned herb, but this is inconvenient, and “precious” vapors will be lost every time the lid is opened.
From the preceding descriptions, it is apparent that the devices currently being used have significant disadvantages. Thus, important aspects of the technology used in the field of invention remain amenable to useful refinement.